Denying Inevitabilities
by Tarafina
Summary: It was as if it was coming in that one split second where he could move left or right, one was the right way, the other meant incredible agony. This was the decision of a lifetime. :Chlollie:


**Title**: Denying Inevitabilities  
**Category**: Smallville  
**Rating**: T  
**Genre**: Angst/Romance  
**Pairing**: Chloe/Oliver  
**Prompt**: Denial by shopgal08  
**Word Count**: 1,292  
**Summary**: It was as if it was coming in that one split second where he could move left or right, one was the right way, the other meant incredible agony. This was the decision of a lifetime.

**_Denying Inevitabilities_**  
-Drabble-

_"I'm standing here... I'm waiting... So you can either admit it and accept that I love you too or you can walk away from me and we end it... Over and done before it ever started..."_

_He stared at her, her eyes filled with tears but her chin unwavering; stiff and certain, just like the rest of her. She wouldn't back down, wouldn't take back the words as much as she dearly wanted to. And this was his fault, really. They'd been dancing around each other, so close but so far, for years. He had excuse after excuse to why they shouldn't; why it was best that they stayed apart and he stopped dating altogether. But this was _her _and she wasn't willing to accept those reasons. So it all came down to this ultimatum._

_"What are you _waiting _for?" she asked, staring at him with huge, vibrant green eyes. "You're Oliver Queen, you're Green Arrow, you know the world end to end, you know the cruelty and the good of it all. So what is _this _compared to all of that? What am _I _compared to that, Ollie? So say no, tell me that it's for the best and walk away... Walk away from it all and pretend that you'll get over it, that it won't hurt! That a lifetime of solitude is better. Go ahead!" she exclaimed, smiling sadly as she shook her head and threw her arms up. "The words are on the tip of your tongue and you know it. You'll play the noble hero again and you'll comfort yourself with the idea that I'm crying now, but I'll thank you later. But I won't..." She laughed derisively. "No knight in shining armor is going to show up on his white steed and promise a lifetime of perfection and safety. Because there's no such thing!" She stared at him now, her breathing heavy. "You keep telling yourself that away from you I'm safer, but am I? Really? Because I've been out there and trust me, death isn't avoiding me."_

_He swallowed tightly, his jaw clenched. She was right, as usual. And he wanted to pretend she wasn't; he wanted to believe all those lies she'd brought to notice and go on in his fantasy where she accepted that he was looking out for her, went out into the world and found somebody better, safer, and they lived happily ever after. It only mildly soothed his heart, because he knew, had for so long, that he wasn't going to just move on from her. This was the woman who never backed down, never treated him like the boss so much as a friend, always with a quirky remark and a warm smile. He could come home from a horrible night of patrolling, ready to quit entirely and take up golf, become the narcissistic billionaire so many expected of him. And then he'd see her there, asleep on his couch, her book open in her lap and he'd remember why he did it all in the first place. For people like her to have some sort of comfort in their lives; so they could go out and not worry about what's around the next corner. Because they deserved that, _she _deserved that._

_"I can't do this forever and I won't wait in the background for you to finally realize that I've been standing here, loving you all this time and waiting for you to finally do something about it." She shook her head, her eyes turning upward to relieve the stinging. "So either say goodbye or..."_

_A second passed and then five, ten, thirty..._

_She sighed, nodding before she turned around, grabbed her laptop bag and started toward the elevator._

_He felt a rush in his chest, like his heart was about to explode. The same feeling he always got right before something bad truly happened; like when a knife slid through his ribs or the bullet pierced his chest. It was as if it was coming in that one split second where he could move left or right, one was the right way, the other meant incredible agony. In those two instances, he went the wrong direction, right into the blade and the bullet. And now here he stood, stuck in one of those moments and he had a choice to make. Watch her leave and know that he'd forever regret it, denying for the rest of his life that there was anything there, or say something and let the pieces fall where they were meant to._

_"I love you," he blurted out, loud and clear._

_She stopped, still staring forward not daring to turn around._

_"I've loved you for years and I don't want you to leave. I don't want to wake up one morning twenty years from now and know that I let the most incredible woman I'd ever met walk away from me." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I love you, Sidekick," he said, softer now, staring at her with furrowed brows and a heart that wouldn't calm itself._

_She turned around, her lips curling at the corners. "I love you, too."_

Oliver smiled at the memory, staring out at the many people around him talking and laughing and having a good time. He felt a hand on his arm and he turned to see his wife grinning up at him, still dressed in lace and satin, her new wedding band sitting perfectly on her finger, glinting in the light. "Dance with me," she murmured, not really a question.

He half-smirked, standing up and taking her hand, leading her out to the dance floor where various other couples were enjoying a song. He wrapped an arm around her waist, drew her up so close there was hardly enough space for either of them to move. Her head rested against his shoulder, one of her hands on his bicep, the other in his palm as he led them around in small circles. He could feel her lightly kissing his neck, nuzzling it with her nose every once in a while. He let his eyes fall to half-mass, barely recognized the people around them, lost in his own world.

A year ago, he'd been struggling with the fact that he might lose her forever and now, here he stood, holding her in his arms for all the world to see and knowing that whatever happened, he had her forever. Either of them could very well die tomorrow; it wasn't completely unfathomable, but he'd still have her as his wife, still know that he turned in the right direction, he said the right words and he accepted his fate. He could've taken the safe road and known that while he'd always miss her, she _might _be safer without him, but he'd instead chosen to protect her himself.

He kissed her hair before trailing down, brushing her ear with his lips and burying his face against her shoulder, his mouth whispering over her neck. "What do you think, Chlo?"

She turned her head so that her eyes caught his. "I think..." She grinned. "Finally."

He chuckled. "Right as usual."

She smirked, letting her head fall back to stare up at him smugly. "Too bad it took so long for you to realize that."

He pressed his forehead against hers. "I know now."

She licked her lips. "And don't you forget it," she murmured.

He wouldn't. All his denial did was slow him from the inevitable. Dipping his wife back, grinning at her laugh, he drew her back up into his arms and couldn't he happier that she was as stubborn as she was, otherwise he might've lived a lifetime without her. And how empty that would've been.


End file.
